Malam Wada Maida, Chairman, Board of Directors of the News Agency of Nigeria, is dead.

Malam Lawal Sale Maida, a member of his family, who confirmed this to the NAN, said that Maida died in Abuja on Monday. He was aged 70.

Maida, former Editor-in-Chief and later Managing Director of NAN, was one of the pioneer editors of the agency and served at various times as its Regional Editor in Kaduna, Political Editor and London Correspondent.

He was Chief Press Secretary to Muhammadu Buhari when he became military Head of State in December 1983, and returned to NAN in 1985 to become its Editor-in-Chief for eight years.